General Electric (NYSE:GE) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $211.42 and last traded at $209.71, with a volume of 4593175 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $208.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GE. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.73.

General Electric Trading Up 0.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $223.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.98.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. As a group, analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 18.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new position in General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in General Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in General Electric by 133.3% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Electric Company Profile

General Electric Company, doing business as GE Aerospace, designs and produces commercial and defense aircraft engines, integrated engine components, electric power, and mechanical aircraft systems. It also offers aftermarket services to support its products. The company operates in the United States, Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa.